With the launch of Start-up Policy last year September and the schemes this year in April, spate of programmes to scale-up the tempo is on. Within a period of ten days, Goa government launched Goa Angels, a network of angel investors who are looking to invest and mentor innovative start-ups. Mumbai Angels Network (MAN), India’s premier angel network will be powering the Goa Angels Network (GAN).
The start-up programme, launched by the Start-up Promotion Cell, Department of IT, Government of Goa, is supporting the launch of the first ever angel investors network in Goa. “The government is committed to building a vibrant start-up ecosystem in Goa. A robust and strong angel investment network will attract the best start-ups in the country to Goa and also provide the innovative start-ups from Goa access to a large pool of investors,” said Rohan Khaunte, Information and Technology Minister of Goa.
The main force behind this new angel network in Goa is Shrinivas Dempo, chairman of the House of Dempos. “We are excited to launch Goa Angels to bring the top investors in Goa under a single network. We see this as a first and critical step in building a robust start-up ecosystem in the State. Our partnership with Mumbai Angels will ensure our members get access to best-in-class start-ups from across the country. We are also looking forward to extending the full membership experience that being a part of a larger network, including investing best practices, learning sessions and active portfolio management for the invested companies,” said Mr Dempo.
It is expected that Mumbai Angels Network will bring in their best in class investment format to Goa which will enable Goa Angels Network to jumpstart as a nationally integrated angel investment network from day one.
The network receives requests anywhere in the range of 500 start-ups every month and about 4000-5000 per annum from across the country and outside India looking for funding. These start-ups are then evaluated by the internal team based on several parameters, which includes how ready are they to receive funding, how much money are they looking for, what will they use the money for, how long will the money last and what is the potential for angel investors to get a strong return on their investment in the start-up they are investing in.
From these 500 start-ups, the team and the investors chose about 8-10 start-ups which pitch for funding across MAN’s 6 chapters and now seven, including Goa.
These start-up pitches will be held in Goa along with the other chapters once every six weeks where three start-ups will pitch in front of 25-30 investors from Goa. Overall across India these start-ups will pitch to about more than 250 investors to ask for investments in their ideas and teams.
Mumbai Angels will handle the entire process from deal screening to deal pitches to closure in investments. After the investment, MAN will actively manage the investments on behalf of the investors and will be involved in the next level investments that will come in once the requirement is sought.
Apart from the investment showcases Mumbai Angels will also bring learning and knowledge sessions to Goa focused on Angel Investments and how startups can raise funding from angel investors.
“We are excited to powering Goa Angels and are looking forward to building the start-up ecosystem in Goa. With our nationwide reach of six chapters (Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Pune), Mumbai Angels Network has the first access to the best start-ups in the country. With our innovative, process driven investing, we are able to steer the entire investment process smoothly right from curating deals, deal negotiations, deal documentations to actively managing the invested portfolio and working closely with the next level investors for exits,” said Nandini Mansinghka, chairperson of Mumbai Angels.
